Why Use RAID 5 Array

At one time largely seen as an enterprise only option, RAID 5 has become relatively cheaper, making it an option for small and medium sized companies who require a high capacity file server system.

DiskEng have extensive experience in dealing with data recovery from RAID 5 server systems, from the simplest three disk RAID right through to RAID arrays containing more than a dozen hard disk drives. Due to the complexity of RAID data recovery, an in-depth knowledge of the file system and the underlying RAID architecture are essential.

Compromise of Speed and Safety

RAID 5 stripes the data across the set of drives, which helps to increase the read/write speed. However, this is offset against the need when writing new data, to re-calculate the parity, which is also striped across the drives providing the redundancy.

For many years this was seen as the perfect compromise, and so successful was the hype, that many users failed to realise that a backup plan for their data was still essential.

Built-in Redundancy Allows RAID Array Rebuild

In the event of a single hard drive failure, the RAID 5 array is still able to operate in a condition known as degraded mode. The RAID 5 array must not be allowed to continue operating in degraded mode without further action, as a further failure which could be imminent, would result in a complete failure of the array.

The use of a RAID 5 array allows the failed hard drive to be replaced, and the data and parity information, can then be rebuilt to this new disk. This should be done immediately, as a failure of another drive would make RAID data recovery the only option available for recovering the files.

With disks now storing several terabytes, the time taken to complete a rebuild is considerably longer than with the much lower capacity drives available a decade ago. This increases the risk of a failure occurring during the rebuild, so it is wise to organise a contingency plan while this process is taking place, just in-case a data recovery service is required.

RAID 5 Data Recovery

In the event that more than one disk in a RAID 5 array, or even a failure of the RAID controller, professional help must be sought from data recovery specialists such as DiskEng, who understand both the file system and the underlying RAID architecture.

It is important to make the right decision, as the integrity of your data is paramount. The wrong choice could have serious consequences, for both your data and the future of your company.